The unseasonably warm evening attracted a cast of Hash regulars as well as a new face. Jeff was noticeably unruly at the start, pacing back and forth waiting for the bloody run to begin so he could begin the carbo reloading process. (We later found out that Jeff was more anxious than we had imagined.) As we enjoyed inhaling the rush hour exhaust, we had an unexpected visit from Mary the Greek who just happened to be passing through. Mary paid us tribute with her usual warm smile and the made her way off to one of her mysterious evening rendezvous. (She claimed to be heading to an up-scale Salsa event.)

After several minutes, we realized all of the waiting in the world would not produce additional Hashers to enjoy our trot through the town. We started off as a pack and managed to stay that way through most of the run. Compliments to the Hare for an extremely well-marked run that took us all over midtown. Particularly noteworthy were the amusing diversions into building lobbies and subway stations. Other Hares should learn from our experienced Hare.

The checks were all clearly marked with falses within a couple of blocks from the center. We managed to stay together as a group until the third-to-last check, near Central Park South. A couple of front-running-bastards became a little too enthusiastic by claiming to be on trail before reaching the third arrow. At this point, I diverged from the rest of the group and headed into the midtown traffic while the others checked in Central Park. I found the trail a couple of minutes later and went back to tell the others. As they ran my way, I took off into the traffic and didn't see them until the on-in. As I followed the winding trail, I came upon a mysterious check that had already been marked with a pack arrow. How could the trail be marked If I was the first Hasher? Was there a short-cutting-bastard among the group?

The on-in materialized several blocks from the last check. Within several minutes, most of the Hashers had found their way to beer. Jeff came in with the pack looking a bit more thirsty than usual. His story was that he diverged from the trail within the first couple of blocks and thus marked the last check while the pack was still making its way to the first check. Sounded like a convenient way to skip the run and enjoy an ale. I am proud to say that the Hashing legend found his way back the start and then followed the rest of the trail instead of enjoying the benefits of aborting early.

The on-in was full of great merry-making as usual. The beer would have fulfilled all beer-snobs requirements as Budweiser and its peers were not on the menu. During the down-downs, we indoctrinated a newcomer, Mike, from Tampa and harassed Pierre for not running the Hash but taking full advantage of the liquid nourishment. Crofty stumbled in after the down-downs claiming that he left his apartment late and missed the start. Beth remained true to form and downed a few before heading back to her thesis writing. We were reminiscing about the fun we have had running the Winter Wednesday Hashes as the evening slipped by…